Africa Dress

First off, I'm calling it the Africa dress because the fabric print actually says the word "Africa" all over it. Now, keeping in mind the taking good pictures of myself, by my self, is not my best skill, here are the pictures:

Above is how I wore the dress to church (my tights are gray). I received lots of compliments! Some from people who didn't even know I had made the dress (the best kind)! In all reality I thought maybe the dress wouldn't make it through church. While getting ready (putting on my coat, moving things around in my car, etc) I kept hearing seams popping! At least that's what it sounded like. Everything appears to be fine and fully in tact, so I don't know what was happening. 

Overall I'm really proud of the dress. I can't remember the last time I made something for myself and actually completed it!

Because I'm downsizing I decided that my fabric stash must fit in a small tub (27 quarts). That means if I don't use my fabric I don't get to buy more. I bought this fabric over a year ago, I'm glad I finally found it's purpose. On to the next project!

Oh and here is my favorite picture from the bunch:

Going Through My Vinyl

Today I was possessed with the desire to go through my vinyl. And it went really well! I always have a hard time getting rid of vinyl because some of it can't be found in any other format. This time I went through it with my tiny house goals in mind and it was really easy. I got rid of about a fourth of my collection. Huge deal for me!

These are the ones I'm getting rid of (same pile, different angle):

 And these are the ones I'm keeping:

Back to Blogging

I haven't blogged since January! But I've decided that I need to resurrect my blog. I'm working towards building my own tiny house and would like to blog about that.

I think one of the first things I posted when I started this blog was my hair cut. It seems appropriate to bring the blog back to life with a hair cut and a perm. Here you go: 

On My Nightstand

So right now I'm reading five books and I have one waiting to be read. Then I have two other books that I've finished, but haven't put back on the shelf. Plus my journal. It's getting a little crowded.

Above you see my current reads, plus my journal (which I write in every night). They are upside down because that's just the way they get placed right before a fall asleep. I'll list them for you in the order I started reading them.

Mountains of Memory: A Fire Lookout's Life in the River of No Return Wilderness by Don Scheese

John Steinbeck's short novels includes: Tortilla Flat, The Red Pony, Of Mice and Men, The Moon is Down, Cannery Row and The Pearl.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Speaking Ill of the Dead: Jerks in Montana History

Fire Lookouts of the Northwest by Ray Kresek

I've finished reading two of the above books and one of them is hopefully going to be read soon.

The finished ones are:

The Message by Lance Richardson

An Affair to Remember: The Remarkable Love Story of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy by Christopher Andersen

And next in line is:

Armour: Divine Protection in a Darkening World by Kim B. Clark
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The Message was good, my grandma let me borrow it. It's about a guy who crosses over into the next life while in a coma. Very powerful.

I really enjoyed An Affair to Remember. We all know I love Katharine Hepburn. I also love Spencer Tracy. I think it's amazing to see how they influenced each other. Also they were both incredible actors.

via amyhollingsworth.com

Another great book I recently finished is The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers: Spiritual Insights from the World's Most Beloved Neighbor by Amy Hollingsworth. I LOVE Fred Rogers. I'm certain that he was one of the most Christ-like men to even grace this earth. He was so wise and I love reading about how lovely he was to people.

What have you been reading? Are you learning lots?